You Can Prepare for a Better 2025
Even if all you did was hang in there like a rusty fish hook in 2024.
The holiday is coming and I am not ready! I don’t mean Christmas. I mean the New Year. As a wellness and productivity writer, I am knee-deep in planning, self-reflection, research, and the like. Why? Because the New Year is my reset button. And I want to have a productive, happy, purposeful, and profitable 2025. Don’t you?
But if it goes like 2024 did…I may just wing it, again.
Tossed To-dos and High Intentions
If you’re feeling a bit like all your intentions for this past year turned into a crumpled paper list of todos, abandoned and rubbish-tossed in frustration, you aren’t alone. Studies show that 59% of the tasks on to-do lists are never completed. And I know that’s true because Google’s AI bot told me. (Yeah, I don’t believe everything AI has to say either, but it did help me make my point.)
That’s in part because we don’t time-manage our tasks, keep our focus at work, or other things simply come up throughout the day that we didn’t foresee. Your yearly to-do lists, goals, aspirations—these are not immune to our getting off track. What we do with our 2025 depends on one thing—our ability to adapt, reset, and keep going.
It’s really that simple: Adapt (to whatever is out of your control), Reset (adjust your perspective or plan of action) and Keep Going (persevere, learn). But if you need more encouragement than that to have the BEST 2025 EVER, I have some advice that may surprise you.
Preparing for a GREAT 2025
So the holiday is coming. A new year is approaching. And since I’ve been writing on health, wellness, productivity, and mental health for over five years—here’s my round-up on the matter. (Note: In no way does my ability to eke out a living doing this directly correlate to my actual mental health and wellness. Those are 100% works in progress.)
Forget Setting Goals for 2025
I said it.
Forget about goal-setting, to-do-list making, and creating lists of all the things you will accomplish this year. Just stop. Because if 2024 taught us anything…it’s that all the planning in the world won’t make us happy. Or teach us mindfulness. Or create in us a heart of gratitude.
Creating opportunities for instant failure (at least of 59%), in my book, is not a win. What is a win? I’m glad you asked:
Give Your Brain Some Space.
If you must use planning systems…adapt them to how your mind works rather than trying to bend your brain in ways it doesn’t bend. If you’re neurodivergent like me, creating a system that works for how we think reduces stress, overwhelm, and feelings of failure.
Here’s more on how to create a neurodivergent journal planning system that works for you.
GET OUTSIDE EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Yes, ALL CAPS.
No amount of doing will turn you into a successful person if you have no idea how to be a person. Simply being is an art that puts the rest of your life into perspective.
Get fresh air—every day. Look at the sky—every day. Think of our smallness, and of the uh-may-zing-ness of being utterly human in a huge and expansive world inside worlds. There is no better way to appreciate the potential of 2025 than experiencing awe.
“What an astonishment to breathe on this breathing planet. What a blessing to be Earth loving Earth.” ―John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet (I thoroughy recommend reading this book in 2025!)
Find Time for Joy
I recently criticized Elon Musk for wasting so much money creating Robotaxis when people like me are out here deciding between going to the dentist or buying this season’s Christmas presents. We may all have differing opinions on his (arguably agreeable) weirdness—the man sure has one thing down pat; play.
Musk isn’t afraid to chase a weird idea or two. He’s off sending rockets, building weird-looking stuff, and buying whole websites—just for funzies. I wonder how much of his success can be attributed to this kind of concept: Do what brings you joy. Life is just too damned short to not dream up ways to get humans to Mars.
Thinking beyond your normalcy, playing a little, lightening up, releasing stress—all these things may feel unproductive. But play is central to success. If you want 2025 to be good to you…be good to yourself. Enjoy your one precious life. Meaningfully prioritize your time in 2025 so that you can go beyond surviving your life, to living wholly in it.
Release Expectations of Others & Recognize Propaganda.
I think we can all agree there’s a whole lot of disagreement these days. I’ve read or heard somewhere that there are only two emotions: love and fear. And every single other emotion stems from these. So, when we are dealing with ourselves, and others, and with things we see online (or on the news!) that stir us up and pit us against each other…choose;
Love or Fear.
Forget About Superficial Measures of Physical Acceptance.
Example: Forget about your weight—and consider what your body can do. If your body needs empowering to serve your life better, then go do that. Focus on health and wellness, not shape. You’re not on a weight loss journey—You’re on a body empowerment journey.
I find that there are so many things in this life that change completely when reframed. Perspective is everything. Remember: Love or fear?
The Best 2025 Is One You LIVE Best
Being successful in 2025 isn’t about what you have, what you earn, what you do. It’s about who you are. And if, like me, that’s still a work in progress…then that’s ok too! In 2025 I am going to live. And, hopefully, more often than not, choose love.
Thanks for reading. And Happy Holidays!
Christina M. Ward
Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services